Indoor game



' 1,627,517 y 1927' .1. s. LITTLEFORD. JR

INDOOR GAME Filed Nov. 9, 1926 I N VEN TOR.

do n J Littlefard Jr.

A TTORNE Y.

Patented May 3, 1927.

UNITED STATES JOHN S. LITTLEFORD, 13-, 01 FORT THOMAS, KENTUQ KY.

nmoon Gama.

Application fled Kovember 9, 192a. Serial 1%. 147,351.

This invention relates to indoor games.

and more particularly to a game of miniature golf, or a game in imitation of the well-known outdoor game of golf.

Some of the objects of this invention are to provide a game of this character, which will be highly entertaining, instructive, and one which encourges the exercise of skill and judgment on the part of the players. u Other objects will also appear in the speci fication taken in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein one form of the invention is illustrated.

The invention consists in providing an imitation golf course represented as by printing on heavy paper or cloth, such as felt, together with hazards such as bunkers, an imitation golf ball constructed so as to retard or kill the" roll, and a catapult or shooter for driving the balls from tee'to green.

The invention also consists in the construction, combination, location and arrangement of parts as-herein set forth and claimed.

In the-drawings: e

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the cloth course, clearly showing the hazards bunkers, tees, greens, flags, etc'.;

Fig. 2 is a plan v1e'w of the catapult or shooter; v

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical section of the catapult taken on a plane corresponding to line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of one of the green flags, the base of which is shown in vertical section;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of one of the bunkers; I Fig. 6 is'a plan view thereof;

Fig. 7 is a central vertical section of one of the imitation golf. balls showing it partly loaded with weighted material, such as shot which overcomes the roll of the ball; .and

Fig. 8 is a side elevation of the catapult illustrating the range or distance of various shots.

In the embodiment of my invention as" illustrated and which shows a preferred construction, I provide a miniature golf course (1 represented upon heavy paper or cloth, such as green printed to represent sand .traps b, woods 0 and ond e. Tees f, greens g and h and islan area i are also represented upon the felt, upon which hazards are cloth course a by printing or otherwise, as clearly shown in Fig. 1.

Upon each of the greens 9 and h, I provide flags comprising standard In, flag d and,

base m. The outer periphery of base 112. is beveled or tapered at 'n'; and is provided in the center with boss 0 through which a hole 1) is drilled to receive the lower end of standard k. The upper face of base m is cut away to form recess or cup 9, as clearly shown in the sectional view, Fig. ,4. The lower end of standard In is provided with ears 1' for the purpose of supporting said standardwithin hole 72 of base m. 'Flag is preferably made of thin stifi" material, such as tin, and is soldered to the upper end of standard is.

The imitation golf ball 8 is preferably made of celluloid or-similar light material andis provided on its inside with weighted material, such as shot t, for purposes more fully explained hereinafter. v

The catapult ordriver u comprises base 0 the bottom of which is curved, as at w an sprlng member a; which is securely fastened to said base in any suitable manner, as for example, by wood screws y. Said spring member a: is provided with grooved recesses or depressions w and m", as clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 3 and 8, respectively.

Directions for playing.--This invention is an eighteen hole game of table golf that requires the same degree of perseverance, judgment and skill that makes the real game of golf so fascinating.

The egmpment.-The equipment necessary properl mounted intheir bases m, on the greens or small enclosed areas 9 and h, respectively, as shown in Fig. 1. Place the bunkers j on'the rectangular areas as outlined. Set the driver dr catapult u on the circle numbered 1? (number one tee") and the game is ready to play.

Number of playersre Any number of per sons may lay the game but the most pleasure is derive when playing a competitive twosome (two players) or four-some (four players). terms.

Look "under the heading fGolf Object of the game-The object of the game is to shoot the ball 5 with the catapult or driver it and have it stop on one of the greens g or it. If this is done with the first shot the player makes a score of two for that hole, or if on the first shot the ball 3 stops in the cup or recessed portion 9 of the flag base m, he makes a score of one. However, if the ball fails to reach the green played for on the first shot, the player counts one, two or three, depending upon the location of the ball, and continues to shoot or drive from the tee position until the ball is made to stop on the green. In computing his score for the hole the player will take the total of all of his shots using the values for each shot as given below. I

Ball in the cup 7 counts one.

Ball on the green 9 or it counts two.

Ball on the fairway a (all of the area outside of sand traps, greens, pond, etc.) counts one.

Ball in a sand trap b, in the pond a, or in the woods 0 counts two or three ac cording to its location. (See penalties marked on felt).

Ball out of bounds (on or over the border line a of the, course a) counts two.

Ball on top of a bunker 7' counts one- If a ball stops directly on the border of a trap 12, pond e or green 9 or h it is considered to be in the fairway 2 and counts one.

Any ball that slips or rolls from the driver u when it is in the hands of the player will be counted as a shot and will be given a value of one, two or three in accordance with the count given above.

Emamples of scoring-Let it be. supposed that a player shoots his first shot and it stops in the fairway a he then counts one and without moving the driver or catapult u from the tee position 7 he again places the ball 8 on the spring as and shoots a second time. If his second shot stops in the pond e he adds two to his score, making a total of three and shoots a third time. If the third shot stops on the green 9 or b. he then adds two to his score and has made a total score of five for that hole. The next player then shoots.

The island-It will be noticedthat there is an area i marked ofi' within the pond e that will be known as the island. Ordinarily any ball that stops upon this islandwill be considered in the fairway a and will count one, however should any player shoot a score or five or more without reaching the green, he may if he chooses, shoot for the island and if successful in reaching it, may deduct five from his score. He then shoots for the green until he reaches it or holes out. The privilege. of shooting for the island is extended to a player but once on each hole and all unsuccessful shots that are made for the'island are counted the same as if the player had been shooting for the green.

Even though it is unintentional upon the part of the player, a shot that stops on the island deducts five from his score, provided his score at the time is five or more and that he has not used the privilege before on this same hole.

Playing around the cowrse.The layout of the course a provides for playing eighteen holes. That is, each player plays around the table twice, shooting for the first nine holes to the flag at and green 9 located nearest to the number 1 tee and for the second round or. tenth to the eighteenth hole, to the green 71. at the far end of the table. For the order in which players shoot see The honor under the heading of Golf terms.

Usz'ny th6',Z7Z l)7" or catapult.'lo properly use the driver or catapult u it should be held firmly between the thumb and fingers of the left hand, at the same time pressmg it securely against the felt or course a. With the driver pointing directly at the flag, place the ball 8 in one of the depressions or recesses 00 or w" in the spring-member w and with the thumb or forefinger of the right hand depress said spring-member a: and then let the thumb or finger slip off quickly. The forward depression w in the spring should be used on short, high or mashie shots and the rear depression at for the longer shots. The flight or altitude of the ball may be controlled by laying the driver back or rolling it to the rear on its curved base for high shots and by pitching it forward to gain distance, as illustrated in Fig. 8.

It will be noted that the spring amust be pressed straight down otherwise the ball 8 will be hooked (thrown to the left) or sliced (thrown to the right). Altering the pZay.The positions of the flags d on the greens 9 and h, respectively, may be changed occasionally, thus altering the length of each hole and changing the character of the shots required from the various tees f.

Golf terma-Two-some: A match com posed of two players. I

Four-some: A match composed of four players. In this case two of the players play as partners and are opposed to the other two.

Low-ball: The score of the player who makes a hole in the least number of strokes.

The honor: The privilege of shooting first from the tee. The person having the low ball on the last hole played is granted this privilege.

Winning the hole: A player wins the hole when his score for the hole is better than that of his opponent.

Match play: Playing around the course and counting each low ball as one winning point. The pla er having the greatest numer of low he s wins the match.

Medal lay: Playing around the course with the 0 ject of completing the round in the least possible strokes; The player with the lowest total for all of the holes played wins the match in medal play.

It will be understood that certain changes and modifications of my invention can be made without departing from its scope or spirit as defined in the claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a game of the character described, including a miniature golf course, a ball, a driver having a curved or rocker-shaped bottom with a curved spring mounted thereon and having a depression to engage the ball, substantially as set forth and for the purposes specified. I

2. In a gaine of the character described, including a miniature golf course, a ball, a driver having a curved or rocker-shaped bottom with a spring mounted thereon and having a depression to en age the ball, substantially as set forth an for the purposes specified. Y

3. In a game of the character described,

' including a miniature golf course, a driver,

- depending u a hollow ball adapted to be mounted on and thrown by said driver over said golf course and having a plurality of shot therein, substantially as set forth and for the purposes specified.

4. In a game of the character described, including a miniature golf course, a rockershaped driver adapted to be mounted on said golf course and having a spring thereon and a ball adapted to be mounted thereon and thrown therefrom at varying angles,

11 the position of the rockershaped mem r of said driver while the spring is being actuated.

5. In a game of the character described, the combination of a miniature golf course represented upon a flexible material, a driver having a spring member mounted thereon, an imitation golf ball adapted to be played across said course as by being projected from said driver, and hazards represented upon said course 1n the form of bunkers, sand traps, ends and woods, substantially as describe 6. In a game of the character described, a piece of felt having a miniature golf course represented thereon, a driver, a sprin on said driver, an imitationgolf ball, said all being hollow and partially filled with-weighted material so as to retard the roll of said ball, bunkers said bunkers adapted to be placed upon said course as desired, imitation sand traps, woods, and ponds represented upon said course, greens represented upon said course and flags adapted to be placed upon said greens, substantially as described.

7. In a game of the character described, in combination, a course, comprising a piece of resilient material such as felt, hazards thereon in the form of sand traps, ponds and woods, obstructions placed upon said course in the form of bunkers, greens on said course, flags adapted to be placed upon said greens, an imitation golf ball, a drlver having means mounted thereon to throw or project said ball, substantially as described.

8. In combination with a miniature golf course represented 1 upon pliable material such as felt and having greens, ponds, woods, sand traps, etc. re resented thereon, a driver comprising a ho y portion having a curved bottom, a spring-member having a plurality of depressions thereinand mounted upon said body portion, and a miniature golf ball adapted to be placed on said depressions and thrown therefrom, substantiialy as set forth and for the purposes spec- 1 e JOHN s. LITTLEFORD, JR. 

